Greening Big Science
Thomas Parker, European Spallation Source
There are approximately 30 research infrastructure facilities in Europe and each consumes as much electricity as a small town. Worldwide, the emissions caused by powering research facilities are probably comparable to those of Latvia. Cutting science's energy bill is one of the main challenges of research facilities today.
The European Spallation Source (ESS), to be built in Lund, Sweden, is the latest research infrastructure development. The ESS is implementing an energy concept known as Responsible, Renewable, Recyclable, and Reliable, which translates into energy efficiency, renewable energy sources, recycling of heat that is otherwise wasted, and at the same time, an operational stability that ensures that the facility is available for science .
Building the facility in an environmentally sustainable way, ESS will save up to 150 million Swedish krona every year. Moreover, after 40 years operation, carbon dioxide emissions will be reduced by 165,000 tons every year, equivalent to 5.5 million round trips from Paris to New York.
The ESS energy solution has been developed in co-operation with the utilities companies E.ON and Lunds Energikoncernen, and ESS is now going from concept phase to design phase.
In this presentation, the speaker will highlight challenges to keep the end in mind in a complex, multi-stakeholder environment and will discuss methods to identify and eliminate risks and silo-thinking in the systematic energy management project.
Biography:
Thomas Parker has been working with the energy concept "Responsible, Renewable, Recyclable, and Reliable" at ESS since April 2008. Mr. Parker spent two years of this time at the Spallation Neutron Source at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Mr. Parker has a background in nanotech, energy, and environmental management.